


A single woman in possession of a good name

by keita52



Series: Galactic Dating Service [7]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Arranged Marriage, Canonical Character Death, F/M, Fake Marriage, Falling In Love, slight AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-12
Updated: 2018-03-12
Packaged: 2019-03-30 03:37:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13941771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keita52/pseuds/keita52
Summary: In an effort to continue the peace bought by the end of the First Contact War, a custom of human-turian arranged marriages has arisen. Such an arranged marriage is generally considered to bring prestige to both sides.





	A single woman in possession of a good name

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BethAdastra](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BethAdastra/gifts), [Burning_Nightingale](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burning_Nightingale/gifts), [Kahika](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kahika/gifts).



“Vakarian?”

Garrus looked up from the Mako to see Ashley Williams standing there. He stood, doing his best not to frown at her. He hated being interrupted, but it was also unforgivably rude to ignore someone who wanted to talk to her. “Williams.” Odd that she would seek him out to start conversation, since it had never happened before in the weeks they’d been chasing Saren. 

“Your family -- are they generally well-regarded?”

“My family?” It was the last thing that he’d expected to hear. “Why do you want to know about my family?”

Williams sighed, obviously exasperated with him. “Call it curiosity.”

He tried to keep his own irritation under control. He really didn’t want to start trouble, so it was probably better to answer her. He reached up and touched his markings. “I’m from Palaven. Cipritine, specifically. Which automatically puts me a bit above the colony-born.” The words came out snobbish, and he winced inside. 

“Is that how you were able to get a job at C-Sec?”

Garrus straightened his back and met her eyes. “I got the job on my own merits.” His tone and stare dared her to challenge that fact.

“But you left.” 

He felt increasingly uneasy about this conversation. Why was she probing? Why take an interest all of a sudden? “I left to go after Saren. I hate leaving jobs unfinished.”

Williams folded her arms across her chest and leaned against the side of the Mako. “Will you be going back to C-Sec when this is over?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t decided.” Hadn’t given it any substantial consideration, actually, and now he would have to, thank you very much for that Williams. “What about you?” he said, determined to inflict some of the same uneasiness on her. “Is your family well-regarded? Do you plan to stick in the Alliance military?”

She looked stricken at that, and he felt a momentary pang of regret. “I plan to stay in the military until they won’t have me anymore.” Her back straightened, as his had a moment before. “I take my job very seriously.”

Garrus flared his mandibles in annoyance. “Are you trying to imply that I don’t?”

“I think you haven’t figured out what you want.”

“And that’s a problem?”

Her shrug was a bit too casual. She cared more than she was letting on -- why? What was this conversation actually about? “Look,” he said, “if you’re worried about me abandoning Shepard -- I won’t. I’m sticking with this to the end. Like I said, I don’t leave things unfinished.”

“Well that’s something.”

His temper finally broke. “What is it that you want, Williams? What’s with all the questions?”

She was quiet for a long moment. “My grandfather,” she said slowly, “is General Williams.”

That put the whole conversation in a completely new light. And before he had recovered enough to say anything, she was gone.

* * *

Garrus brought up the file on his omni-tool when he’d recovered from the shock enough to start thinking rationally again. He hated what the file represented, but he couldn’t bring himself to delete it. He couldn’t bear the thought of disappointing his mother.

He scrolled through the list of human women that were both eligible and acceptable until he found Ashley Williams. She was towards the end of the list, signifying that his mother had considered her a “reach” prospect. At the Academy, he’d heard some of his more obnoxious classmates bragging about how they were going to put in a bid for “a Williams girl” when they were eligible. It was the kind of talk that made him disgusted with the whole arranged marriage custom that had sprung up in the wake of the First Contact War. Just another system that could all-too-easily be abused for the benefit of the privileged.

He read the notes in her file. She’d enlisted at 18, which took the burden of negotiating away from her family and put it on the Systems Alliance Military. That was another thing that struck him as ridiculous. The military was the military, not a  _ dating service _ , by the Spirits. The turian way was better, if still ridiculous. If he wanted to marry another turian, or, hell, any other species, he wouldn’t need to ask permission of his family. But as soon as the stupid arranged marriage custom came into play, he wasn’t able to proceed without the consent of  _ both _ parents. 

Garrus chewed on a few more implications of the conversation, of who Williams was and what that meant for her, before he went looking for her. She was sitting in the galley with a cup of tea between her hands, staring off into space. Garrus took the seat across from her.

“I thought I had it bad,” he began as a kind of peace offering. “Being pushed into C-Sec, being pushed to consider marrying a human because of the honor it would bring to my family -- but it’s much worse for you, isn’t it?”

“Since before I turned 18, even,” Williams said. “There were a few jokers who thought that any arrangement made before I was old enough to consent would actually stand up. Well, I guess it would if I had wanted it to. But I didn’t.”

Garrus winced. “I’m sorry.”

She shook her head. “Not your fault.  _ You _ weren’t one of the ones who bid for me.”

The feeling of guilt by association didn’t go away, but it wasn’t strong enough to be a real bother. “Williams,” he said after a long moment of silence, “why are you telling me this? It’s not as though --”

“We get along?” Williams finished, and shrugged. “That’s as much my fault as yours. I’ve always kept my distance from turians. Especially turians about my own age.” She looked down into her tea. “There hasn’t been a single turian I’ve met that I would actually have considered marrying.”

Garrus felt as though he’d been punched in the gut, although a part of him was sneering that he shouldn’t be so surprised. Surely this was what they had been heading towards. Surely this was why she had asked about his family. “I --” he began, but Williams cut him off.

“I know that you have no real reason to agree,” she said, practically tripping over her words. “It’d be tying you down to me, making sure that if you ever did -- meet someone, someone you really cared about, you couldn’t really be with that person. The only thing would be prestige for your family and I, honestly, I don’t know how important that would be for you.” She took a deep breath. “Maybe I should’ve waited, tried to make a friend of you but…” she trailed off.

“I might have resented you, knowing that you were just being nice to me because you wanted to marry me as protection from vultures.” Her honesty made him like her more, made him actually consider the matter seriously. 

“Yeah. That.” His words seemed to give her another burst of strength. “I don’t know you very well but what I do know … you wouldn’t hold onto old ways of looking at women. You wouldn’t stand in my way of continuing with the Alliance, wouldn’t yell at me for putting myself in harm’s way on a regular basis.” Her mouth firmed up into a bitter smile. “My family history means that I can’t afford not to marry a turian. At some point, someone’s going to put too much pressure on the Alliance for them to ignore, and then I’ll have no choice. At all.” Her shoulders hunched up. “Forgive me for trying to avoid that fate.”

“Hey.” Garrus reached out and put one of his hands on top of hers. “I understand, okay? I …” He trailed off as she looked up and their eyes met. He pulled his hand back, grateful that she wouldn’t be able to see his embarrassment. “I’m not saying no. But I’m not saying yes. It’s … I need some time to think.”

Williams dropped her eyes back down. “Yeah. Of course. It’s really not something you should decide on the spur of the moment, anyway,” she said, laughing ruefully. At herself, Garrus suspected.

“I won’t take too long,” he promised. “Or at least, I’ll try not to.” He stood, intending to head back down to the Mako, then paused. “You said … you knew that I wouldn’t stand in your way of continuing with the Alliance. Would the reverse be true?”

She looked up at him again, brows furrowed in thought. “Yeah,” she said. “I might try to stop you from doing something if I thought it was stupid and might get you killed, but other than that… I’d back you.”

Garrus nodded and resumed his walk down to the Mako. He had a lot to think about.

* * *

Castis Vakarian sounded just about as shocked as Garrus had ever heard him. “Say that again, son.”

“Castis,” his mother Tanaqui chided her husband. “You’re not hard of hearing.”

“Maybe I’m just having a hard time believing what I heard.”

“So you admit to being crazy then.”

Garrus grinned despite himself. Tanaqui was the only one who could nettle his father like that, and it was exceedingly rare that she exercised such power on his behalf. It made him feel hopeful.

“Ashley Williams, granddaughter of General Williams, has indicated that she would look favorably upon an offer of marriage from the Vakarian family.” The formality helped keep his tone even. If he was going to win this, he had to resist the urge to rub it in his father’s face. 

“Do you love her?” Castis asked.

How easy it would be to lie, to say yes. His mother would fight that much more strongly for the match if she thought it would make her son happy. But that would almost certainly probably come back to bite him later, so, the truth was best.

“No, but I respect her. And she respects me.” He steeled himself and asked the important question. “Is it enough, Father? Would marrying Ashley Williams be enough to let me train to be a Spectre?”

Silence on the other end of the line. A long, uncomfortable silence. “Castis?” Tanaqui prompted.

Castis sighed heavily. “Please tell Ashley Williams’ commanding officer to expect notification of our intent to seek her hand in marriage for you, our son Garrus.”

* * *

“I can’t believe this,” Shepard said, pacing back and forth in her cabin. “You two want to get  _ married _ ?”

Garrus was wearing his best -- well, his  _ only _ \-- civilian clothes, and Ashley was actually wearing a dress. He suspected that it, too, was the only such piece of clothing she had at the moment. 

“I had no idea,” Shepard continued. “It’s not as though you’re fraternizing, but …”

“I don’t love him,” Ashley said bluntly. Garrus was trying to get himself in the habit of thinking of her as  _ Ashley _ and not  _ Williams, _ since they were -- hopefully -- going to be married soon. “But I’d rather marry him than any other turian.”

Shepard stopped pacing. “Oh.” She looked at them with more understanding than before. “And you’re okay with this, Garrus?”

“I am.” Garrus stood up straight. “Otherwise you wouldn’t have gotten notice of my proposal.”

“His family has consented,” Ashley added. “Now we just need your consent.”

Shepard looked stunned. “ _ My _ consent? Why the hell?”

“Custom,” Ashley and Garrus said in unison. 

“Stupidest fucking thing I ever heard,” Shepard grumbled. “Fine. You’re both adults. You want to do this, go ahead and do it.”

“Why, Shepard,” Ashley drawled. “I had no idea you were such a romantic.”

“And I’d be careful,” Garrus added. “ _ You’re _ now an important enough person that you might get a few turians seeking  _ your _ hand in marriage.”

The stunned look on Shepard’s face was more than worth her flipping them off as they exited her cabin.

* * *

“Garrus?” 

He looked up from where he was sitting on his cot and saw Ashley there. His wife. He still wasn’t used to that. Still couldn’t really believe it had happened. 

“Yeah?”

“I think I’m supposed to be stopping you from doing something stupid that will get you killed.”

He had to smile at the reference to the conversation that had lead to this whole weird situation. “Might be easier if you weren’t coming along for the ride.”

Ashley sat down next to him. He tried to scoot over, but there wasn’t much room, so their sides were nearly touching. “You really want to do this?” she asked. “Go be a Spectre?”

“I want to at least try,” he replied. “I -- it isn’t up to me to decide if I’m worthy to become one. Shepard said she’d speak for me, but it isn’t up to her; it’s up to the Council.”

“So this might not be the last time you’re headed into a something you might not come back from.”

“Yeah.” He hadn’t really considered it in such stark terms before. Well, he was now. Was it enough to make him change his mind and back off? 

He looked at Ashley, saw the concern on her face. Without knowing why, he put his arm around her. She leaned into him, her eyes closing, as she let out a deep sigh. She felt comfortable and safe with him. When had that happened?

They sat there together, in the quiet of a ship at speed hurtling towards an uncertain meeting on Ilos, while Garrus considered what his being a Spectre would mean to Ashley.

* * *

Garrus’ heart went cold when he saw the headlines, on his way from the Presidium to his apartment in Zakera Ward.  _ Normandy Missing. More Than 20 Crew Unaccounted For. _

_ Ashley.  _ She had gone with Shepard to try and track down geth. Spirits, was she one of the ones that was missing? Was Shepard?

He spent the evening glued to the news, waiting to hear confirmation from the Alliance about those who had died. He was Ashley’s next of kin now, shouldn’t they tell him if -- if --

His omni-tool beeped. His fingers trembled as he moved to accept the call. “Vakarian.”

“Hey.”

His heart leapt to hear the familiar voice.  _ Ashley’s _ voice. “You’re alive.”

“Got to the escape pods. Shepard -- Shepard --” She started crying, and he knew. 

“I’m coming to see you. Where are you?”

“Arcturus.”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can manage.”

* * *

When he got to Arcturus, he held her for what felt like hours as they both cried, mourning Shepard’s death. Mourning the good friend they had lost.

Ashley finally broke the embrace to grab a tissue and blow her nose. “I’m getting snot all over you,” she said with a soft laugh.

“It washes out,” Garrus replied, touching her cheek without thinking. She froze, and for a moment, he was as terrified as he had been when he first got the word about the Normandy. 

Ashley brought her hand up, covering his. “Garrus?”

“Yeah?”

“I -- I don’t want to lose you.”

The realization seemed to hit them both at the same time. He never was sure who moved first, or if they genuinely met in the middle, but seconds after she spoke those words they were kissing. 

It was quite some time before they broke apart, still panting, staring intently at the other one. “You know,” Garrus said slowly, “we never did consummate our marriage. We ought to fix that.”

“Yes,” Ashley agreed. “We really should.”


End file.
